What Animals Look Like in the Womb (23 photos)

Humanity, renowned for its curiosity, hasn't missed the opportunity to peer into nature's inner sanctum. Thanks to National Geographic documentaries, we can see unborn animals in the womb or, in some cases, in eggs. It's a strange, yet captivating sight.







1. Baby elephant at 118 days post-conception.





2. An older baby elephant, this is what it looks like at 12 months of 22 pregnancy. This is the longest pregnancy among mammals.



3. Baby elephant, 12 months pregnant.



4. An emperor penguin embryo inside its egg, about a week after fertilization.



5. An almost fully formed emperor penguin chick.



6.



7. Still inside the egg...



8. A penguin chick before birth.



9. A kitten a week before birth.



10. A baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch, where it will spend six months before being introduced to the outside world.



11. A lemon shark. Around the fifth month of embryonic development, gills begin to form.



12. And later, the teeth appear.



13. Puppies are incredibly adorable even before they're born...



14. Chihuahua puppy, last week of pregnancy.



15. A puppy just before birth.



16.



17. Polar bears.



18. A snake.



19. Leopard.



20. Dolphin.



21. However, despite the astonishing authenticity of these images and the information about ultrasound and the microcameras used to create them that has appeared online along with the images, these are not real photographs.



22. These are actually stunning silicone models created by the British special effects studio Artem, along with computer graphics.



23. The models themselves were created using 3D ultrasound and zoological experts, with attention to every anatomical detail. The result is so realistic that many people mistakenly believe the footage is real.